Is sociology, business & politics A level combo a bad idea?

[LatinSisters]

A mum from school yesterday was appalled that my DD is wanting to study sociology, business and politics at A levels, saying that none of them are academic and she won’t get a place at a ‘good’ uni. DD has no clue about a career or a degree. She’s not taking any of those subjects at gcse so it’s a risk but this mum wasn’t getting at that. DD is definitely more interested in humanities than sciences. She works very hard and is likely to get the following at GCSE
maths 7, English x2 at 7, 3 sciences at 6, history 6, PE 7, Food 7/8. (Total of 9 subjects at 6/7 type results).
She thinks she’ll really enjoy sociology and politics, and that business could be interesting. BUT are these a ‘bad’ combination?

All becomes immaterial once they get their A level grades.

doubt it

just like i don’t look at PE teachers and think they are the epitome of physical skill and ability

the opposite actually in my experience

Not for some universities

what exactly is your experience in this arena @Piggywaspushed becauee you talk very definitively

a teacher?!

and you’re of the view that GCSEs are pretty irrelevant once the Alevel scores are in?

This is utter rubbish, which you will see if you'd read the thread. Some people seem to think the same as you, but thankfully have been proved wrong.
The need to do "harder" A levels is a very Mumsnet thing. As is the feeling that if a child hasn't got all 8/9s then they shouldn't be doing A Levels. Unless there is a specific need for a certain subject, universities only care about grades.
OP I did sociology history and English at A Level. Sociology and history were both new, I didn't do them at GSCE. I was fine and got into an RG uni, the horror!

Haven't read the thread but they are absolutely fine. I wouldn't worry about 3 new subjects.

You’ve not read the whole thread.

This is true. Dd got really average GCSES - a mix of 8s, 7s, 6s and a 4 in French.

Then got a mix of A star and A at A level and got offers from Durham, Bath, Exeter

She did Psychology A level having not done the gcse, absolutely loved it and got an A star.

She got 8s too

Been teaching 30 years. Predominantly sixth form. Taught loads of students with so called mediocre GCSEs who have flourished at A level and got into a range of brilliant degrees and careers. Have taught four A level subjects. Sixth form form tutor who has read and helped with 100s of UCAS applications. Have two DSs who between them did all 3 of the subjects under discussion. DS2 got mainly 8s and 7s at GCSE (one 9 but also one 5) and got 3 A stars at A level.

You?

Your DD got 8s? and a 9? good on her

Once they are in, note. Not necessarily for university selection. But most unis would be more than happy, even delighted with 6s and 7s at GCSE.

All becomes immaterial once they get their A level grades.

which is what you previously said that i responded to

DS.

@Piggywaspushed Applicsnts offering Geography and Maths ARE proving my point. These are the subjects that keep doors open! As the Cambridge booklet says. These are not what the OP is looking at. Yes of course bums on seats unis won’t care, whether that’s Birmingham Economics, when we know how competitive Economics is, is another matter. Bus Studies is not Economics. On the basis of no preferred subjects, my DD did Art, Budimess and Photogrsihy. Her strengths. Are they ok for Economics that doesn’t stipulate which A levels? Obviously not. Clearly it’s an arts leaning course that was required. In this case it would be politics, sociology or business. Grade 6/7 often doesn’t lead to AAA at A level either.

She got one 8, in English lit.

Yes tizer, but their results and PGs in those two subjects were the worst as it goes. And the most important A level for the first case study was the sociology. I have said quite a few times that three new subjects may not be an ideal choice so I think we are singing form the same song sheet there. But people don't seem to object as heftily if someone mentions RS or economics, so there are also prejudices in there, lurking. Politics and weirdly, business don't seem to have got people as worked up as the idea of sociology, which is the one the DD is definitely going to do.

Grade 6/7 can lead to AAA at A level. There are stats on this for each subject. But there is also nothing wrong with BBB.

Your DD did great A levels.

Tbf, the teachers were as amazed as I was that she got those grades. They originally wanted to predict ABB. After mocks they changed it to AAB. Durham, Bath and Exeter all offered at AAA!

Sociology was an amazing A Level for my DD. It broadened her mind and she found it very enjoyable. Sociology with Politics and Business is a good, solid combination imo.

My issue would be more that there may be an overlap with sociology and politics. My eldest was advised not to do history and politics at A-level as overlap there too) they didn't offer sociology. My youngest has loved sociology gcse (as have we - it's been so interesting) and quite frankly much of the course was more like a-level - looking at methodologies, proper citation of sources. She has taken it for a-level too. It's not a soft subject, but almost all of her new class are starting it as a new subject as it's not widely offered GCSE.

I think I would advise one more traditional a-level instead of business studies but my eldest is at an RG uni with people with all sorts of a level combinations- it seems to matter much less than it did. (I personally think everyone should do history, but actually the history a-level my eldest did wasn't great - very much taught to the exam and dull because of that).

Have a look at the details of a variety of courses at each school - youngest wasn't sure about English but when she saw the book list and spoke to the teacher at prospect 6th form she was hooked.

I think English Lit and History depend very much on the book list or the period studied.

Has she considered RS/philosophy and ethics? A great essay subject IMO.

Blame the BT advert from the 80s for sociology's bad rep! There are many threads on MN where it's seen as a lesser subject. Would Radio 4 have a long running weekly sociological programme / would Cambridge do a degree it in if it wasn't a proper academic discipline?

Most schools don't offer these at GCSE

I agree that there can be an issue sometimes with the teaching of history. There is something about it , possibly post reform, that can involve a lot of knowledge stuffing rather than enquiry. A great history teacher, though, is one of the best things in a school! Good point that sociology teaches students to sue and interrogate sources, and also different types of data. Sociology teaches a range of theoretical approaches in way more depth than politics or English Lit (which lets students get away with generalised theoretical understanding, imo)

It depends where she applies. It's true that some A-levels are "non-preferred" and Business is often one of them. Sometimes unis publish this and sometimes they don't. There's a bunch of research on this. LSE for example does list its non-preferred subjects and the subjects they don't even count as A-levels. https://www.lse.ac.uk/study-at-lse/Undergraduate/Prospective-Students/How-to-Apply/Admissions-Information

The site linked earlier, Informed choices, should help. "Facilitating" subjects are one thart unlock more courses. Maths is the most facilitating subject in all cases.